Thoughts from the Shelf

In our second post from this year’s E3 games conference in Los Angeles we look at what leading games manufacturer Nintendo is planning next for its market leading console the Wii.

Nintendo it seems have responded after Sony made claims earlier this week that the Wii console was an expensive novelty, and that Sony did not see it as future competition to its own console.

The response came in the form of a demonstration of the consoles latest add on called MotionPlus, an addition to the Wii controller that is intended to add more realism and depth to the games on offer.

“It renders every light shift of the wrist or arm into the gameplay.” - Nintendo America boss Reggie Fils-Aime

With the demonstration the firm also said that even the first Wii sports title took advantage of the new add-on.

The company also unveiled a Grand Theft Auto game in development for the DS console and a new Wii title, called Music, which sees gamers play more than 50 musical instruments by using the Wiimote motion-sensitive controller.

Selling more than 10 million consoles since its launch, the Nintendo Wii is currently the market leader. The company have also sol 70 million DS machines worldwide.

Nintendo stated that it was selling 200,000 units a week in Europe alone.

Earlier this week we wrote about how Sony have plans to release a larger version of the PS3 and push online gaming with the planned launch of Little Big Planet’, a social-networking game that can be played online through the two-year-old console.

Sony also intends to push the Blu-ray capability of its system with a series of movie download services due to launch.

Today a new report has been released that cites there are now more reasons to justify buying a PlayStation 3 than there are to buy rival gaming console the Xbox360.

In 2007 the Sony console lost out to its rival in terms of sales, however 2008 sales statistics show that the PS3 is gaining significantly on Microsoft’s offering. In the first five months of the year Sony have put the increased sales down to new games released exclusive to its platform, such as that of the popular title ‘Metal Gear Solid 4’.

The Sony console has also seen a rise in sales thanks to the victory of Blu-ray as a dominant high definition DVD format after Toshiba’s HD-DVD was dropped by a series of Hollywood studios early this year to be replaced by its Sony rival. (The Blu-ray vs HD DVD Format War)

“For the first time since the console launched, I really think there’s more reason to buy a PS3 than the 360” - Todd Greenwald, Signal Hill Capital Group analyst.

The rivalry between the two console formats will be sure to heat up later this week as console makers and game publishers meet for the E3 Business and Media Summit in LA. At the conference Sony plans to demonstrate the DVD capability of the PS3, as well demonstrating ‘Little Big Planet’, a social-networking game that can be played online through the two-year-old console.

In an effort to increase the appeal of its console Microsoft plans to triple the storage capacity of the Xbox360, selling 60 GB consoles in August, whilst keeping the starting price the same at $349.

Being introduced a year prior to the PS3 and Wii in 2005 gave the Xbox a 12 month head start, however it is the case that over the last 15 months, 14 of them have seen more Wii consoles shifted than Xbox 360’s or PS3’s.

With each console sold also comes hundreds of extra dollars in revenue of boxed games, downloads, and royalties from third party game developers.

“This battle (between the PS3 and Xbox360) for second place is quite relevant, they lose revenue stream for years ahead based on what people buy.” - Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst Michael Pachter

In the first five months of 2008 Nintendo sold 2.8 million units compared to 1.2 million PS3 unit and 1.12 million Xbox360 units.

That said Sony doesn’t see Nintendo as a competitor as the console doesn’t offer the broad range of services its console does, such as the ability to watch movies and access the internet.

“I don’t see it as a competitor. It’s more of an expensive niche game device. We’re selling a lot of PlayStation 3s now and it’s still the best way to buy a Blu-ray player.” - Sony Chief Executive Officer Howard Stringer

News was released today the Sony Playstaion site has fallen victim to hackers who targeted the site in an attempt to engineer credit card number and other personal data from gamers.

The Playstaion site that was hit was in the US, and targeted pages promoting PlayStation games such as SingStar Pop and God of War. The malware attack worked by running a fake antivirus scan on users computers, later prompting them to purchase phoney antivirus software in order to solve the inevitable problem it detected.

Insecurity firm Sophos said that the criminals behind the scam had used an SQL injection vulnerability to add unauthorised code to pages.

Talking of the scope of the attack Graham Cluley, from Sophos stated that “There are millions of video game lovers around the world, many of whom will visit Sony’s PlayStation website regularly to find out more about the latest console games.”

He went on to say that “Most would never expect that surfing a website like this could potentially infect them with Malware…It is essential that all websites, especially high profile ones like this, have been properly hardened to prevent hackers from injecting malicious code into legitimate web pages.”

News has resurfaced that Sony is planning to release a mobile phone that will incorporate elements of its popular Playstation Portable or PSP. With Sony already lending its name to the Cybershot and Walkman Sony Ericsson mobile it would seem a logical step.

In the mobile market Sony is part of a joint venture with telecommunications giant Ericsson to make mobile phones, and last week launched the motion sensing F305 gaming phone. Motion sensing technology used allows the user of the F305 to play games such as bowling and fishing, imitating the movements required if actually playing the sport.

Although a break through in gaming facilities seem in mobile handsets to date, it had been predicted that the F305 model would include some Playstation branding or a PSP style design. However, leaked information suggests that the Sony isn’t willing to give their converted Playstation branding to a joint venture.

With Sony Ericsson lying a lowly fifth place in the handset market it seems Sony are not wiling to risk their closely guarded PlayStation brand on a joint venture handset quiet yet.

It is rumoured that such decisions has lead to the break down of the Sony Eriksson relationship, and sources have said that relation between the two are frosty.

This further fuels rumours that Sony is in fact working on its own PSP style mobile phone handset which is being tipped for release around Christmas 2009, however contrary to this the joint Sony Ericsson venture has filed a joint patient for a portable mobile communication device that mimics the PSP.

As usual there are no confirmed comments regarding any of the rumours so I guess time will tell.

News released today has told of plans to monitor internet downloads of video content and games in the UK by introducing certifications to websites that offer such services.

Overseen by the British Board of Film Classification certificates will appear on sites via set-top boxes and portable players.

The news comes a the same time as new data was released from a survey on internet consumer trends that states people with broadband connections spend more time online than they do watching television.

They voluntary scheme is called BBFC.online and is due to launch by the end of the month with leading Hollywood studios Disney, Warner and Fox having already signed up to the scheme. Other leading players are also tipped to join soon.

The scheme will provide help put “age verification or gate-keeping systems in place for parents to monitor and control underage viewing”. The announcement was made after independent research showed 74% of parents were concerned about the lack of ratings on downloads.

The technical side of enforcement has not been made entirely clear with Peter Johnson of the BBFC stating

“It’s up to individual systems to work out how to introduce these technologies, but we will police it through test purchases”

More than 1,000 videos will have rating on them by the end of May. There is also the potential for the scheme to be rolled out on the Xbox live console, PS3 and Nintendo Wii, as well as video on demand service such as the iPlayer.

The BBFC have stressed that the scheme does not signal any attempt to censor the internet or regulate online video gaming.

Mr Cooke director of the BBFC did however go on to say

“I’m hoping there won’t be any need for legislation to underpin this scheme,”

At The Shelf we remain pessimistic as the big brother eye looms a little bit closer.

It has finally been confirmed the PlayStation 3 games console has overtaken Microsoft’s Xbox360 in sales in Europe according to figures released by Sony.

According to the Japanese manufacturer over five million units have been shifted across the continent and the PS3 has actually been outselling its rival since October.

“We have sold more PlayStation 3s throughout Europe than Xbox 360 even though they launched 16 months before us.” - Sony’s David Reeves

In the data released it was also stated that Sony has sold more than 12 million PSP handheld consoles and 48 million PlayStation 2 consoles throughout Europe.

Although Sony has successfully outsold Microsoft, Nintendo’s Wii console remains the dominant console in terms of sales. The Wii has sold over 25 millions units world wide.

The sales figures come after the PS3 console suffered a torrid initiation with users initially disappointed by early game titles coupled with stock problems, but as the console recovered it has managed to shift half of global unit sales throughout Europe.

“I think its fair to say that the first year of PS3 was a difficult one, there were some teething problems, and our customers were a little under whelmed by the range of titles that were available.” - SCE president and CEO

With all that behind them these figures suggest that the PS3 console will enable Sony to reclaim top spot as leading console manufacturer.

“I am very confident that after the 10-year lifecycle we will have the install base that we are looking for and that is obviously to be in the leadership position.” - Mr Hirai

It was also announced Sony are looking into disc free network gaming (http://www.techradar.com/news/gaming/hirai-talks-about-playstation-future-360628 ) for future generations but admits that the global infrastructure in not yet in place to support such a concept.

Since Rockstar announced plans to develop its next title in the Grand Theft Auto series on next generation games consoles, the fourth game in the series has been every gamers radar.

The anticipation for this title is as much that it is tipped to shift six million copies in the first week smashing sales records. The opening week sales figure is currently set at £201m by Halo 3.

Game Review

The game that focuses around the character Niko, takes a trip to Liberty City in the latest title (the same setting as the third title for those who don’t follow the series) to take on the criminal underworld once again.

The character Niko is a former soldier from a Western European country spurred on to come to America by his cousin’s tales of money and women. As he arrives he realised however that all does not match up to the tales of his cousin and sets about making the most of his situation, settling some old scores and enjoying a bit of high living during his stay in the city at the same time.

The game is about 40 hours in length and is composed of animation, story scenes and voice overs. Amongst the improvements in scalability, meaning there are ever more places to run and hide and new ways to climb and explore buildings, there are significant improvements in the gunplay making it as good as a committed third person shooter title.

The driving experience is also enhanced thanks to a new game engine which allows for more variations in vehicles and unique driving styles. The vehicles also react a lot better to outside influence making escaping from police a much harder prospect.

The major advantage of this title however and something The Shelf looks forward to testing is the online offerings. Allowing up to 16 players at once players can race, fight or destroy, as well as much more with unique game play options.

Available on both the Xbox and the PS3, both consoles provide a more than adequate home for the title, but with community play dubbed to be the highlight; The Shelf will be backing the PS3’s online playing capabilities.

After a lomg wait more news has eventually come about the eagerly awaited PlayTV.

Originally intended to be released in the first quarter of 2008 PlayTV should rightly be out by now, but news of the add on for the PS3 has suddenly gone quiet and aside from a BBC preview nothing has been seen of Sony’s PVR-enabler. According to Amazon however the release date may have been pushed back to as far as 31st July.

Sony has declined to comment on the release date of its PlayTV device so whether the release date being touted by Amazon is reliable or not remains to be seen. Either way Amazon is currently offering pre-orders for the device for £59.99 (with a £10 saving) and guaranteeing the cheapest pre-release price.

“We have yet to announce a release date and price for PlayTV, and do not comment on rumour or speculation,” a spokesperson for Sony told Eurogamer.

As yet the only official comment confirms that PlayTV will be out this year.

Amazon is not the only retailer to pre-empt Sony’s official PlayTV release. In February HMV blamed a rival retailer for a webpage that claimed the DVR add-on, which HMV was offering for £100 (€120/$200), would be available from 28 March.

The Shelf was a big fan of the PlayTV device when it was first touted last year, and the functionality that the device will give to the PS3 will be well worth the investment. The high definition ready duel digital tuners will allow users to watch one free view channel whilst recording another, much in the same way sky plus has been functioning for its paying customers.

PlayTV customers will also be able to use remote play to browse the EPG, start and stop recordings and even watch live TV on a PSP.

In more news regarding the BBC iPlayer and following on from last months post about the service launching on both the iPhone and iTouch, iPlayer Launched on iPhone and iPod Touch, it seems the service has stepped up a gear and is now available on the Nintendo Wii.

Having struck deals with Apple to be the first mobile platforms to support the service, it seems the BBC is now pushing the service into living rooms of the public through the Nintendo Wii.

It has been rumoured that both Sony and Microsoft were eager to sign the iPlayer for their respective PS3 and Xbox 360 consoles, but the deal feel through due to increasing demands of the games console manufacturers.

“If you want to get [iPlayer] on the PlayStation or Xbox, they want control of the look, the feel and the experience; they want it done within their shop, and their shop only.” - head of BBC Future Media and Technology Erik Huggers

Darren Waters, BBC technology editor said “The BBC’s announcement of a deal with Nintendo to put the iPlayer’s streaming service on the console makes something of a mockery of claims by Sony and Microsoft that their consoles are the true multimedia machines.”

With Xbox live having no browser it seems Microsoft are unwilling to work with the BBC without retaining control over the look and feel of content delivery, however with the ‘open platform’ of the PS3 it does seem inevitable that the iPlayer will find its way to the PS3 before long.

“[Sony] has said often that PS3 is an ‘open platform’ and all it would take is a small update to let gamers access iPlayer in the web browser.” - Darren Waters, BBC technology editor

With the majority of iPlayer customers currently accessing BBC content through a PC, the publicly funded broadcaster is taking steps to make its services available directly to the big screen television set, and it sees the Japanese games console as a means of doing so.

Currently users can view content downloaded from the iPlayer through their television sets, although it requires using the S-video output on most notebooks and a suitable S-Video to Scart cable. For LCD or plasma screen screens this could be replaced by a higher quality VGA input/ output.

The advantage of this latest deal for the iPlayer is that the Wii consoles are already rigged up to TV set, and therefore programmes can be viewed directly on the console.

Wii players will need to install the Internet Channel which will cost 500 Wii points or £3.50 but there are plans for a free alternative in the future.

The service will remain in beta initially as the BBC experiments with the optimal video encoding techniques for superior playback. The BBC already encodes all 400 hours of weekly iPlayer video, and now must do the same again for the high quality H.264 iPhone streams, and the Wii.

Wii encoding will be of a poorer quality as the Wii only supports Flash 7.This is because of the fact that initially the Wii was only designed to support lower quality Youtube style video.

“Our regular Flash content is encoded at 500Kbps. We chose that bitrate because it’s the highest quality that could be reliably streamed on pretty much any UK broadband internet connection. However, for Wii we had to increase the bitrate to 820Kbps because the Sorenson codec used by Wii simply needs more bits to achieve the same picture quality,” - BBC’s Anthony Rose

Mobile phone giant Nokia has launched its revamped internet service platform know as N-Gage, which enables holders of the higher end handsets to download videogames directly to their mobile phones.

N-Gage’s growing library of games will be accessible as users download software that connects their phone to their internet platform. With 30 games expected to be available by mid-2008, it marks one of the biggest moves by a mobile handset manufacturer to get into the content market.

“The games, the devices, and the community are all here for you to finally get your teeth into. The Forums are back up and the new N-Gage application is here”. - Nokia said on the N-Gage blog.

Currently the service is only available on the N81, N81 8GB, N82, N96 and N95 8GB, but Nokia is also planning to launch N-Gage for other phone models, including the N73, N93 and N93i.

According to Nokia there is a keen interest in gaming on mobile phones.

“People have been put off mobile gaming because there is nowhere to try games, gaming experiences have been poor, and the games are difficult to use, but all these problems have been solved with the new platform” – said Nokia’s Christopher Joyau

Officially the site is not being launched until April 7th, when select Nokia mobile holders will be able access the site and choose between six games. From then onwards two to three new games a week will be added to the platform.

The release date has already been pushed back twice, originally targeted for a 2007 launch, and after the initial launch of the service in 2003 which bombed, Nokia are hoping for big things.

Game publishers including Electronic Arts, Gameloft and Glu Mobile, have signed agreements to get their games on to the N-Gage service. In the UK, launch titles include Asphalt 3: Street Rules, Hooked On: Creatures of the deep, Brain Challenge and System Rush: Evolution. Many of the games are free to try and, in the UK, cost between £6 to £8 for a full copy.

Nokia made 40% of handsets sold in the last quarter of 2007.